Do you think about how to improve your spoken English? Do you think speaking English is a hard job? That’s not true. You can easily learn to speak English fluently. One can improve spoken English without much trouble. What you need to do is: have patience, be confident and practice hard. What else?

Go on reading. There is so much for you to understand and implement to be a good speaker.

But before you move further, keep one thing in your mind- ‘Though no one in this world is perfect, practice is the key to unlocking the doors of perfection.’

Mastering Spoken English

1. Read and write

What do these terms mean when we are talking about speaking English? Reading is the best way to improve your spoken English. But remember you need to read aloud so that you are audible to your ears.

This will let you know your shortcomings, your pronunciation and this will also increase your imagination powers.

Your brain gets charged when you read and creates images that you never forget. Try to focus on expressions, phrases, and intelligent idioms while you are reading any text.

Also, focus on the way grammar is used in any book you read.

Now, talking about writing skills. What can writing in English do to improve your speaking skills?

Writing enhances your thinking capacity and helps you to overcome word usage problems. One can try writing new styles and once you are done reading it and start editing your work.

As it is said, ‘Self-study is the best study.’ You do not require someone else to edit your work. Our brain can memorize grammatical mistakes and new words when we write and correct them.

So reading, writing, learning spellings and grammar, using vocabulary- all go together.

What’s the bottom line?

You have to read and write as and when you have time.

Try to produce this language from within you. This helps to operate English in a better way when you will speak.

Read novels on topics of your interest. This will help to keep your mind charged. For example, I enjoy reading a thriller and investigatory novels that keep me engaged until the end of the story. You must check them out.

Also, in my opinion, try to write at least 200-500 words daily on any topic you find interesting.

For example, write about yourself, your surroundings, etc.

What next?

2. Listen and watch

The best way to improve your spoken English and probably the most fascinating method is given here:

Open the recorder of your phone and start speaking on any topic. Try to be fluent. Forget about correcting your grammar right now. Your focus should be on speaking. After 2-3 minutes stop recording and listen to yourself.

It’s a perfect way to know when and where you lack and how you can improve your spoken English. After pondering on your fumbles, your grammatical mistakes, etc. try speaking and recording again. Listen well and repeat the exercise until you master your old mistakes. ‘Try, try, and try until you succeed.’

I have gone through the same exercise and it works. So crack the nut using this method- record, listen, rectify and repeat.

Listen to English songs and try to repeat them. Sing aloud in English once you get the lyrics.

Watching English shows and videos can create a surrounding for you to learn the movements, fluency, and gestures used at the time of speaking.

I would suggest watching English news channels. Also, keep a dictionary beside you while watching or listening; any word that you feel is not known to you, jot it down in a small notebook and look it up in the dictionary. Try to frame sentences and use these words while speaking for the whole day. This creates pictures in your mind. Hence, one will always remember these words.

The bottom line:

Immerse yourself in English.

Read, write, listen and watch things only in English. Forget about speaking in your native tongue.

Use common words and sentences while speaking English. Prepare well for some commonly discussed topics. So that you can start speaking with fluency whenever you are asked to do so.

3. Think and act

Thinking before speaking is very important. Whenever you get a topic for speaking for some discussion or debate, you have to think over it properly.‘Preparing before-hand will never let you down.’

Frame the whole topic in points and phrases in your mind before you start speaking.

What else you can do? Try to think about as many topics as you can. Use new words and phrases you have already read somewhere.

Discuss different topics in your thoughts before bringing yourself back into reality.

ACT: This is another hilarious activity.

Whenever you watch an English movie or any other video in English, try to act like the characters you are observing.

Watch them closely for their mouth movements and gestures. Mimic them, or I would rather suggest imitate them. How will this help you?

This activity will enable you to know the correct body language of a speaker.

Once you indulge yourself in the acting mode, you will be able to understand the correct gestures while speaking to someone.

Note that while speaking you should always make eye contact with the audience or the person you are conversing to.

So dear reader ‘Think before you act.’

4. What about your accent and fluency?

You don’t need to catch the native English accent. You have to speak in English, not act as English.

If you are an Indian, you will have that kind of accent. There is no compulsion for you to focus on the English or American accent. But there is a need for you to focus on different sentences, phrases, new words, gestures, etc. which are used by Americans.

You can start to improve your spoken English by first working on your speaking skills and body language. Then work on your fluency.

FLUENCY means the ease of speaking or expressing your views.

Whenever you speak, you have to maintain a free flow of words coming out of your mouth.

Your voice should be properly intoned.

You should always speak in a calm and composed manner.

Your voice should be clear to the person you are conversing to. That is what matters while you speak in English.

Practice speaking in English at least for 15-20 minutes daily for improving your fluency.

To make your voice sound and clear, practice the next point.

This one is really fun. Go on, read it.

5. For the clarity of your voice- try tongue twisters

Yes, yes, don’t be surprised. They help. Tongue twisters help us to understand the correct movements of our mouth and tongue. Not only will it improve your spoken English, but it can also improve your pronunciation. This will surely bring clarity to your voice. With these twisters below try to control your tongue at a normal pace:

-How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?

– Sheena leads, Sheila needs.

-Send toast to ten tense stout saints’ ten tall tents.

-If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?

If you can speak them clearly at the normal pace, then start upping the ante. They are really helpful.

6. Learn and make mistakes

Though learning is a never-ending process but the dear reader you still have to learn with your endeavor to gain something. Learn new phrases and start using them daily. Make a habit of framing sentences while learning any new word. You should learn at least five words daily by framing as many sentences as you can.

‘No one can learn without making mistakes.’ You are not a good learner if you don’t make mistakes.

Our mistakes tell us where we are lacking. This helps us to correct ourselves. There are several commonly made mistakes like the one I am discussing here:

Incorrect statement: ‘I left my office early this evening and arrived in plenty of time to catch my flight.’

Correct statement: ‘I left my office early this evening and arrived just in time to catch my flight.’

So make mistakes but learn from them. One should never repeat the same mistake again and again. So work well on your mistakes.

7. Speak, interrogate and debate

Grab every opportunity to speak. Interrogate others to increase the length of the conversation.

For example: -What do you think?

-What is your opinion?

-Would you like to present your views?

Always try to give your point of view in any conversation you are amid. Don’t think about others. Just go on speaking in English. But try to be fluent to keep the other person engaged.

Debating turns to be very fruitful when we are talking about improvement in our spoken English. Take any topic having two different opinions to discuss. Encourage anyone of your friends or relatives to debate in favor of or against a topic. This will help you to learn the style of presenting your views.

This will also remove the hesitation which is residing in you. With time and practice, you will improve your spoken English.

The Best Part

Time and practice can bring fluency in your speech while self-confidence can bring grace in your speech. Both these factors play a huge role to help you improve spoken English. Look at the picture below:

If you feel doing the same as this frog, when you are asked to speak in English, then work on building up your confidence. You should have a belief in your soul that you know this language well.

And I hope that from all the points I have discussed above and with your courage to practice, you will build up your confidence. Keep in mind: ‘The destiny of hard work is always the success.’

So practice well. Good luck.

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